TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

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TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby blackturtle.us » Thu Jul 11, 2013 6:11 pm

The meeting this evening had a number of items which were interesting and which provoked a fair amount of discussion amongst the board members. However, the only people sitting in the audience were Alan Tsubota, Mark Goins, Tom Hopper, and me!

1. Superintendent's Report - The district got selected for Federal Program Monitoring. Basically it's a compliance review focusing on how economic impact aid money is spent and it will take place in November or December.

2. The acoustics in the auditorium were poor, but I believe I heard that that the pool was closed for a few days due to an issue with a pipe. Repairs were implemented and the pool was re-opened.

3. Board Room - Hopefully next month the board meeting will be held in the board room. This meeting and last meeting were held in the auditorium due to asbestos removal being conducted in the board room. The carpet in the board room (and adjacent rooms) had to be removed as the result of a flood caused by a broken pipe. While attempting to remove the carpet, the asbestos tiles under the carpet came loose. So, an asbestos removal team had to be called in before the carpet could be replaced. All work should be done in time for the next board meeting.

4. High Speed Internet is not yet operational as previously expected. Verizon fell behind on installation and the project will not be complete until some time in September.

5. State Budget - Governor Brown's budget was approved with some modifications. Supt. Olney explained the base, supplemental, and concentration categories of the budget, but the bottom line is that the district must resubmit its budget to account for changes to the state budget within the next 45 days.

6. Several extra duty positions were approved including Athletic Director, Mathletes, Yearbook, Elementary Student Council Advisor, Secondary Science Fair Director, and 6th Grade Science Camp Coordinator.

7. A proposal to pay a $1,500 moving bonus to new certificated employees passed 3-2 with Ray Richardson and Sandy Sprouse casting the nay votes. The bonus will be paid using Title II: Improving Teacher Quality funds. Supt. Olney explained that this bonus falls within the list of things these funds can be used for.

8. ROP Funding - The state no longer funds ROP and similar programs under the new budget. San Bernardino County has decided to maintain funding to all schools for these programs at 95% of last year's funding level for the next two years. In the meantime it is hoped that the state will decide to go back to funding these programs. However, if the state does not elect to do this, districts will have to either fund these programs out of their own funds or else drop the programs. (Tom: Let me know if I didn't get this one right!)

9. FCMAT Cafeteria Study Report - Supt. Olney passed out a rather thick report to all board members containing extensive recommendations pertaining to food services for TJUSD. He also passed out a condensed list of recommendations and suggestions. He went on to explain that the district is doing its best to run an efficient food services program and that small schools generally can not pay for such a program using only funds dedicated to feeding students and must pay for the cafeteria program in part with general funds. Olney also stated that the cafeteria manager had already started complying with the recommendations in the report and further explained various other challenges faced by those running food service programs.

ALSO OF INTEREST: Royalties for 2012-2013: $3,598,274.09 (No check for June has been received and so the total should be two or three hundred thousand dollars higher if June's check is comparable to those received during previous months.)

NEXT MEETING: August 8th, 2013
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby wildrose » Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:15 am

7. A proposal to pay a $1,500 moving bonus to new certificated employees passed 3-2 with Ray Richardson and Sandy Sprouse casting the nay votes. The bonus will be paid using Title II: Improving Teacher Quality funds. Supt. Olney explained that this bonus falls within the list of things these funds can be used for.

If this bonus had some kind of "no commuters" clause, I think it would be a good idea. What I mean is it should require that the person moving live in the community. Otherwise the school is just paying them to move from one city to another. The bonus should only be given if the person moves into Trona.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby wildrose » Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:28 am

Spurlock visits Finnish classroom
Actually the Finns are reputed as having the most effective public education system in the world, but in this video it's all fun and games and joking around!
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby tronagirl » Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:15 am

Ridgecrest Charter School grows to try to accommodate waiting list of students
I've heard a lot of contradictory stuff about charter schools. Some reports say they're really good and others say they're inferior to traditional public schools. I guess it comes down to a comparison between specific schools. This school in RC sounds like it's pretty good.
The lines to get into the school are long, that's due to the school's commitment to smaller class size, with a 20-student maximum, according to the school's Principal Tina Ellingsworth at a recent school board meeting.

LINK: http://www.ridgecrestca.com/article/20130713/NEWS/130719877/1001/NEWS
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby cactuspete » Sun Jul 21, 2013 7:02 am

Back-to-school tech gifts (2013) :pac:
This list is geared towards kids going off to college and most of the items seem to have more to do with entertainment than with getting work done!
1. Portable Bluetooth Speaker
2. Headphones
3. HDTV
4. MacBook Air (laptop)
5. Samsung Galaxy S4
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby shadylady » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:17 am

School Celebrates 'Redneck Day'
This was in Arizona, not in the Deep South! Of course, AZ has quite a reputation for this kind of thing, but this might be going a little too far. Promoting racism at school is not something that should be tolerated!!! Which probably explains why the Department of Education (a federal agency) is stepping in to deal with this issue.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - July 11, 2013

Postby desertrat » Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:15 am

Training at New WWE School in Full Swing
Kids would probably learn more if there was a little more activity at school. Public schools don't really do a good job dealing with kids who need a lot of physical activity. They make them sit quietly and perform boring tasks. It's soul-crushing monotony for a lot of kids!
:dead:
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